Officials with the hospitals had previously indicated they intended to seek a rehearing. Today was the deadline for the filings.

In its 45-page filing today, Brookwood argues that Trinity's application for regulatory approval was not consistent with the state's health plan, a formal document that dictates the number and type of hospital beds allowed in each county. The appellate court ruled last month that regulators acted within the law and state regulations when they lowered the number of beds in Trinity's application to bring it in compliance with the so-called "60 percent" rule. The rule requires that a hospital have at least 60 percent occupancy before it can expand or relocate. Trinity had requested approval for 398 beds, and regulators lowered that number to 372 to raise its occupancy rate.

In its filing today Brookwood said the revision made by regulators was improper.

"Trinity's (Certificate of Need) application was not consistent with the State Health Plan before it was approved by SHPDA," the filing states. "If a CON application is inconsistent with the State Health Plan, the SHPDA has no alternative but to deny the application."

Brookwood also argues in the filing that the appellate court erred when it found that a 1990 precedent did not apply. In that case, an application to build a hospital in southern Jefferson County was rejected because it would have increased the number of beds in a county judged to already have too many. Trinity administrators have said its relocated hospital would have fewer beds than its existing one.

St. Vincent's, in a 117-page filing, made similar arguments. St. Vincent's argued that the court erred in allowing regulators to adjust the number of beds in the CON application, that it demonstrated a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the 60 percent rule and that Trinity's lack of objection to the adjustment cannot be construed as approval. The appellate court's decision "ignores the undisputed evidence," St. Vincent's filing indicates.

A spokesman for Trinity said its administrators had no comment on the filings.

A rehearing before the appellate court is the next-to-last recourse for Brookwood and St. Vincent's, which sued to block Trinity's move after it was approved by regulators. Should the applications for rehearing be rejected, Brookwood and St. Vincent's could appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.